Master of Creative Arts
2025 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2026 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Master of Creative Arts |
| Deakin course code | A759 |
| Course Credit Points | 16 |
| Course version | 1 |
| Faculty | |
| Course Information | For students who commenced from 2015 onwards |
| Campus | Offered at Burwood (Melbourne) |
| Online | No |
| Duration | 2 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
| Course Map - enrolment planning tool | This course map is for new students commencing from Trimester 1 2026 Course maps for commencement in previous years are available on the Course Maps webpage or please contact a Student Adviser in Student Central. |
| CRICOS code | 083981D Burwood (Melbourne), Waterfront (Geelong) |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 9 |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Alternative exits
- Research information
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Other learning experiences
- Research and research-related study
- Fees and charges
Course overview
Realise your full potential as a creator while specialising in an area of passion with a Master of Creative Arts. Graduate with an eye-catching portfolio and build transferable skills that prepare you to be flexible across the creative jobs of the future.
Want to push your creative practice to new heights?
The Master of Creative Arts allows you to focus your studies on one of six creative areas: dance, drama, new media, photography, visual arts, or visual communication design. But that doesn’t mean your knowledge will be limited to your specialisation. Throughout the course, you will be studying complementary disciplines and practising alongside creative thinkers from different backgrounds, broadening your understanding of creativity and arming you with transferable skills that prepare you for any creative pursuit.
The multidisciplinary aspect of the course could see you specialising in dance while taking an elective unit in film writing, ultimately leading to the production of a dance film for your final creative project.
While core study areas will be tailored to your specialisation, there are common threads throughout each pathway that set you up to be a versatile creative practitioner. Build transferable skills that employers value, like imaginative thinking, problem solving and creative collaboration, and discover what it takes to be adaptable and resourceful – two key attributes of the modern creative.
Strengthen your creative repertoire with elective units. Your electives can play to your strengths, or help you upskill in an unfamiliar discipline. Some of your elective options include:
- Writing with the Camera
- Documentary Production Practice
- Art Marketing
- Introduction to Digital Photography
- Design Thinking and Problem Solving
The course provides lots of practical experience, including sought-after internship opportunities, allowing you to hone your creative craft in real-world settings. You’ll work on industry-relevant creative projects, applying theoretical frameworks in teams and as an individual. And you will complete a major creative work in professional standard facilities, including TV broadcast studios, dance and drama studios, a professional photographic light studio, visual arts and design studios and dedicated gallery spaces. On top of that, your creative research projects will train you in practical research skills that benefit your everyday life, as well as your career.
While many of our graduates go on to secure exciting roles in creative industries, there are also opportunities for further study upon successful completion of the course. If you want to become a subject matter expert in your creative area, connect with leading researchers and access unique professional development opportunities, you might like to progress into a Higher Degree by Research.
Career opportunities
Graduate with specialist knowledge, transferable creative skills and real-world experience that prepares you for a diverse range of creative roles in areas such as:
- entrepreneurship and management in the creative arts
- design
- video, sound and multimedia production
- freelancing as a creator or artist
- art production and curation
- consulting
Your skills will be sought-after in museums and galleries, all levels of government, boutique art companies and design agencies. You can also explore opportunities in festivals, community events and curatorial projects typically funded by government and philanthropic entities.
For more information go to DeakinTALENT.
Participation requirements
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Alternative exits
| Graduate Certificate of Creative Arts (A559) | |
| Graduate Diploma of Creative Arts (A659) |
Research information
Students will undertake 6 credit points of research units consisting of research methods, theory and research-based project units where they will be required to undertake practice-led research, and traditional research in one of the creative arts disciplines incorporating a Creative Research Thesis and a Creative Practice Research project consisting of a major creative production (16,000-word equivalent) AND a critical exegesis (4,000-words).
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Apply and extend specialist knowledge and technical and creative skills in creative arts practice in one or more disciplines or areas of creative arts including drama, dance, photography, visual arts, animation, film and television and design. |
| Communication | Use specialist creative arts technologies and skills including writing, movement, film, image, and voice to interpret and communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences in academic and non-academic contexts. Harness specialist creative arts technologies, skills, and discourse to communicate complex ideas to a range of audiences in academic and non-academic contexts. |
| Digital literacy | Draw on, analyse, and assess digital technologies to produce, document, present, and publish in the creative arts |
| Critical thinking | Evaluate, interpret, and synthesise complex ideas within creative arts drawing on discourse and practice. |
| Problem solving | Address theoretical and methodological challenges in the creation of work that is discursive and reflective and engages in creative decision-making processes within the relevant field. |
| Self-management | Develop systematic and episodic reflective approaches to creative work practices. |
| Teamwork | Apply advanced interpersonal and communication skills to participate effectively in the critical culture of production, completion, and presentation of creative arts projects. |
| Global citizenship | Establish ethical approaches that interrogate the value of art and performance in diverse communities and cultures and transfer creative practice outcomes into real world contexts. |
Approved at Faculty Board November 2018
Course rules
To complete the Master of Creative Arts you must pass 16 credit points. This includes:
- DAI001 Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin (0-credit-point compulsory unit) in your first study period
- 6 credit points of core units
- 6 credit points of course electives
- 4 credit points of research capstone
Most units are equal to one credit point.
As a full-time student you will study four credit points per trimester and usually undertake two trimesters per year.
Students are required to meet the University's academic progress and conduct requirements.
Course structure
Core units
Compulsory 0-credit point module
To be completed in the first trimester of study:
| DAI001 | Academic Integrity and Respect at Deakin |
Units
| ACA701 | Creative Studio A (2 credit points) |
| ACA702 | Creative Studio B (2 credit points) |
| ACA711 | Methods and Design for Creative Arts Research (2 credit points)^ |
^ Units offered online only
ACA710 Contemporary Debates in the Creative Arts [No longer available for enrolment]
ACA712 Transgressive Acts in Cinema, Art, Performance [No longer available for enrolment]
ACA715 Creating Your Arts Business [No longer available for enrolment]
Research units
| ACA703 | Advanced Creative Research Project A (2 credit points) |
| ACA704 | Advanced Creative Research Project B (2 credit points) |
Electives
Choose 6 credit points of electives from within the Master of Communication or Master of Arts (Writing and Literature)
Other units that may be counted as electives are:
| ACF700 | Writing with the Camera |
| ACF705 | Documentary Production Practice |
| ACG708 | Design Strategies |
| ACI700 | Digital Art and Photography |
| ADS720 | Culture, Arts and Sports as Community Development |
| ALC708 | Social Media Content Creation |
| ECP711 | Creativity and the Arts |
Work experience
Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.
Course duration
You may be able to study available units in the optional third trimester to fast-track your degree, however your course duration may be extended if there are delays in meeting course requirements, such as completing a placement.
Other learning experiences
There are options for WIL and study tours across many of the SHSS courses.
Research and research-related study
Independent research components are embedded across a number of units.
Fees and charges
Tuition fees will vary depending on the type of fee place you hold, your course, your commencement year, the units you choose to study, your study load and/or unit discipline.
Your tuition fees will increase annually at the start of each calendar year. All fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD) and do not include additional costs such as textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment, mandatory checks, travel, consumables and other costs.
For further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods visit our Current students website.
Further information
Contact Student Central for assistance in course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements. Student Central can also provide information for a wide range of services at Deakin. To help you understand the University vocabulary, please refer to our Enrolment codes and terminology page.